OneCom Services sees fourfold growth in new customers

Vodafone Platinum Partner OneCom has seen new customer acquisition rates quadruple at its unified comms division since November.

The division is also aiming to double all sales by June this year, led by a major push into the calls and fixed-line market.

The rapid growth follows the appointment of James Bannister, former UK and Ireland VP at Ingram Micro Mobility, who joined the company in October last year as head of OneCom Services, the company’s unified comms division.

Under Bannister’s leadership OneCom Services is on a mission to recruit new customers as well as cross-sell calls, lines and data into the company’s 63,000-strong base of existing mobile customers.

Part of Bannister’s initial brief was to instigate a major restructuring at the company to drive greater efficiencies and streamline systems across the company. The restructuring also saw the division’s telesales teams strengthened and a dedicated fixed line sales team established.

Speaking to Mobile, Bannister (pictured) said: ‘A lot of changes have been made to streamline the business into a more efficient operation and with more focus on directly signing up more customers for calls, lines and data. That is our primary focus, drawing from our base of 63,000 customers.’

He added: ‘We are mainly focusing on the larger SME customers as well as working in unison with the mobile sales team to come up with plans and strategies on how to engage customers on a one-to-one basis. The message to our customers, as Vodafone subscribers, is that as Vodafone wholesalers we can offer significant savings on their bills.’

Recent statistics from OneCom customer bills showed average savings of 45% on line rental and calls, 40% on mobile calls, 25% on local and national calls and 30% on international calls.

OneCom Services is also currently signing up more ‘greenfield’ customers than existing mobile customers, which Bannister attributes to the division’s telesales drive and to Blacksheep, OneCom’s lead generation division, which was acquired last year.

The unified comms division has also expanded its management team this month taking on Aaron Barry in the newly created role of northern area manager. Barry was previously a senior business development manager at Vodafone.

The division is also growing the service delivery team at its Leeds base in response to the rapid growth in new customers and has moved into new premises at the company’s headquarters in Whiteley in Hampshire.

Although OneCom Services’ portfolio includes calls, fixed line, data, telephony and IT systems and maintenance, as well IT professional services, the 35-strong division is currently focusing on its calls and fixed lines business.

Bannister said: ‘Our focus is pretty clear, which is to grow our fixed line calls and data business in 2014. We want to show Vodafone what we can do.’